The Angelus Conundrum
by True Believer
Summary: An AU fic starring a bad Buffy and a good Faith, have i gone insane??? I wrote this a while ago so if enough people want me to finish it I will


This is a Buffy fan fic i wrote ages ago but never posted, please R&R. If I get enough emails I will finish it.

Disclaimer: None of it belongs to me, well almost none

Chapter 1

She ran through the headstones, the vampire chasing her at top speed, she could hear his heavy foot-falls right behind her, and they were getting louder. Then she had an idea. Running towards one of the headstones she put her left foot at its tip and flicked herself through the air and landed behind him. She brought up her stake and jabbed it into his back, then the familiar and strangely comforting wail and he turned to dust.

"Hey," it was Xander, he and Willow had caught up with her, "that was," he stuttered.

"Great," Willow filled in for him. They seemed like two halves of the same person to her, twins separated at birth or something, she never could think of intellectual words to voice her thoughts. _I bet Giles could think of something clever, and long-winded to say._ But she wasn't Giles.

"Thanks," she said simply.

"You made him think you were running away then you did the," Willow seemed to be unable to describe her maneuver, Xander however had a crude but effective way of doing it.

"Flippy-thingy," he smiled. She smiled too, she liked having good friends, she turned and started to walk away from Xander and Willow, tucking her stake back into her trousers. 

"Hey Faith, wait up."

Buffy lay on Giles' sofa, half-asleep, with the blankets pulled over her face to hide the sunlight. She wasn't a day person, she had always preferred the dark star-filled sky to the bright, cheerful day. She could hear Giles pottering about in his kitchen, trying to find the instant coffee he kept for guests, she was apparently the first to ask for it.

"Buffy, I seem to be unable to find the coffee," Giles said quietly now sat on the arm of the sofa, "would you like some tea instead?" he asked.

"No thanks G," Buffy replied using the nickname she knew he hated.

"I wish you would stop calling me that," he voiced his annoyance, "I may not be your watcher but you are a guest in my house and I would appreciate _some_ respect." he seemed more than annoyed. It was probably because he had been fired from the watchers council, and replaced by Wesley, her watcher, she had been taken form her parents in San Francisco to Sunnydale in order to take up her mantle as the Slayer, but when she and Wesley had arrived they found another slayer. Faith. She was nice, and had saved the world a few, but she didn't know how to have fun. Buffy didn't like her, or the fact that she was dating Wesley. But everything had just started getting better for Buffy. She had a new boyfriend, William, a vampire with a soul. Not the best match, usually vampire + slayer = pile of dust. But he was different. 

"Come on Buffy," Giles attempted to coax her out of bed, "you said you would help Faith look for Angelus today, and I am going to visit Cordelia at the hospital."

"You taking Riley?" she mumbled, her pathetic attempt at conversation did not go unnoticed.

"No," Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them with a handkerchief he kept in his pocket, something Faith told her he did when he was worried, "he has been sat at her side since it happened, I had to ask one of the nurses to make sure he ate."

"Well," she spoke to herself now, "its time you got up." She removed the blankets and sat up, stark naked, she had gotten over things like embarrassment when she saw Drusilla kill her father back in San Francisco. Giles turned away as though she had not done this before, many times since she had been crashing on his sofa.

"I do wish you wouldn't do that," he seemed nervous as to how to act around a naked young woman. 

"Could you pass me a towel?" she asked.

"Yes," he looked back at her for a moment "yes, of course," he said in a very small voice, like a small boy who had snuck into the girls toilets.

An hour later she was showered and dressed, packing a basket with stakes and crosses and such. Giles took his coat from the rack and put it on.

"I'll be out all morning, don't forget the dagger," he put his keys in his pocket, "and, if you can, drop in to see Cordelia and Riley."

She turned to look at him, "So, G," he visibly cringed at her use of his nickname, "what _should_ I call you then?" he smiled at her and said simply.

"Rupert," she smiled back at him, "I'll see you this afternoon." he said in a softer voice, one he usually reserved for Faith. She was beginning to like Sunnydale.

"Faith," her mother shouted up the stairs, "Buffy is here for your picnic."

Faith sat up in bed, she had forgotten all about it, Wesley had asked her to search for Angelus today. He thought that Angelus was working on another scheme which he hoped would end her life. She hastily put on some sensible hunting clothes and shouted back, "Down in a minute mom."

"Okay," came the response, she had been putting off telling her mother about slaying, she didn't like lying to her, but didn't know how to tell her. She grabbed her stake from her dresser and tucked it into her pocket. She ran downstairs to see Buffy waiting patiently by the door for her with a picnic basket. _Has Buffy made an effort for once and packed some lunch? _

"What sandwiches did you make?" she _had_ to ask, after all, Giles said Buffy was the worst cook he'd ever known.

"Stake," she knew exactly what she meant, the basket was filled with weapons. _Shame, I wanted Tuna-salad._ She joked to herself. 

"Did you bring the...." She did not want her mother to overhear, and struggled to find a word suitable for what she wanted to say, " you-know-what," she nodded at Buffy and raised her eyebrows.

"Yes," Buffy nodded her head winked and raised her eyebrows, a slight mocking tone in her voice, "I brought the," she leaned in and whispered, "you-know-what."

"Ha ha ha," Faith laughed sarcastically. She opened the door and motioned for Buffy to go first. She bowed sarcastically and walked out. She closed the door and caught up with her. "Mansion?" she asked.

"Mansion." Buffy confirmed.

Fifteen minutes later thay arrived at the mansion that had been Angelus' home. Faith searched inside and Buffy was left searching the perimeter. Faith looked around inside the spacious house that had been his lair. She then came to the bedroom, were she had been chained to the wall for three days, his captive, until Giles, Xander and Willow had rescued her. She shuddered at the thought. Then she heard a scream. Buffy. But she was outside. Faith ran to the window and tore away the wooden shutters, she saw a man in a long dark coat. Angelus. But the sun was up, why was he not a pile of dust. But she had no time to figure out why he was still un-dead, she had to help Buffy. She threw herself out of the window and landed on his back. He snarled and reached for her with his hand. It was then that she saw it, a large gem, fused to his hand. He threw her at Buffy and they landed in a heap next to an expensive spots car.

"What are you up to?" she shouted at him. 

"Getting a tan." 

Chapter 2

"He said what," Giles asked her again after she had told him several times of what had happened that afternoon. "and he was outside?"

"Yes," she said, "and for the umpteenth time," she sighed, "he said he was 'getting a tan' and then he drove off, in a convertable I might add."

"In broad daylight?" Giles asked, even though he knew the answer.

"How is she?" Buffy tried to change the subject of the conversation and she spoke to Riley.

"Same," Riley did not take his eyes away from the still figure of Cordelia even as he spoke. It dawned upon her that she had no idea what he was going through. Her father had died quickly, sittng there, watching the woman he loved fade away until she was but a corpse. She could not do it, she wouldn't let _him_ get away with it.

"I've gotta go," she said, Giles pulled a small box from his pocket and threw it to her.

"You must wear it at all times," she opened the box to find a necklace, with a miniature sword hanging from it, "It is the mark of Torias, if you wear it you will be able to sense any vampire within a hundred yards, take it off and Angelus could sneak up on you at any moment." he spoke to her in a grave tone that showed the graveness of the situation.

"I'll be back at your place by dawn." and before anyone could stop her or convince her to change her mind, she left. "Let the hunt," she whispered to herself, "begin."

"You should have seen the look on their faces," he said, a smile playing over his vampiric features, "the shock," Drusilla bent closer to listen, "the pretty blonde one screamed."

"Ooooh, Angelus," Drusilla purred at him, "you are so deliciousely wicked," she walked around the table and sat on his lap, "you make my heart scream in anticipation with all this talk of massacre," she touched his hand, wich was adorned with the same green gem as hers, "this new toy of ours it great, how about we show it off to our friends Cordelia and Riley?"

"Great minds," he tapped his head and then pointed at hers, "think." Drusilla screamed and clutched her face with pain, "what is it Dru?"

"An old enemy is stalking us, trying to destroy our happy home," she turned her features from the sweetness of her human visage to her chilling vampiric glare. "She has a new toy too, she sees when her back is turned, she knows where we dwell during twelve we cannot rise." a look of fear played across her features.

"I've been looking forward to getting another girl on my arm," he sneered, "ever since 'William' killed Kate I have been looking for a pretty blonde thing." Drusilla bent over and started stroking Angelus' slick black hair.

"Don't worry pumpkin," she said as though she was talking to a small child, "Aunty Dru will get you what you want, your 'birthday' is coming up soon."

"Birthday?" Giles asked her.

"Yes," Faith was surprised that Buffy hadn't told him, "William told me, he said it is next week," she stood up and walked over to Giles, "could we have a party," she batted her eyelids at him, "please."

"Alright, we can have at the Bronze," he seemed to remember somthing, "but you think they'll have you back after you set their pool table on fir at your party?"

"Oh," she seemed annoyed, "but the fire said it could have been mice," Giles peered over the rim of his glasses at her, "mice that were smoking?" she pleaded.

"We cannot have the party at the Bronze, for one they don't let me in," Giles seemed a little embarrassed, "the man on the door said I was too old."

"We'll just have to have it here then."

"No."

"But."

"No," Giles spoke sternly.

Faith gave Giles the look she used on her dad when she wanted a new pair of shoes, "Please?"

"Alright, alright," he sighed heavily, "but you must have during the day, you have to patrol at night."


End file.
